Madam Deputy Speaker, I think the hon Hill-Lewis made a very good contribution. He is a young man with a golden future, although he was only born after I had been here for a few years. [Laughter.] The hon member McIntosh also made a good contribution, but in the old South Africa he had a nickname. We called him "Haas Das". So, to the hon Haas Das and the hon Hill-Lewis, thank you for putting your case very properly. We will also oppose the Bill.
This National Lotteries Bill has been dogged by poor administration and a level of incompetence that has resulted in charities and other deserving organisations not receiving funds or not receiving funds in good time. This has been the proverbial thorn in the Lotto's side since its inception. The amending Bill proposes even less scrutiny, reducing accountability regarding the disbursement of funds and thereby making it easier for corruption to flourish.
The creation of a single distribution agency for the disbursement of Lotto funds lends itself to maladministration. It is our submission that this agency will not be able to properly process all applications that come before them. There already exists a severe backlog of entities, although the Minister said that it has been sorted out now. Will the establishment of this single distribution agency, alleviate or compound the problem? That is the question.
We live in a country with many socioeconomic disparities. The National Lottery was originally established as a means to help alleviate the pressure on many organisations that are doing great work in our communities, but they are restricted by the lack of funding. Instead, we have an organisation that has further restricted these organisations by not providing the funding that they need or taking so long to give funds that some organisations were forced to close down.
This amending Bill will mean that there will continue to be less accountability and more secrecy surrounding the distribution of funds of the Lottery. If the current lack of transparency is anything to go by, the recommendations of the Bill will mean that unchecked spending will continue unabatedly, with the citizenry, as always, being the ultimate loser.
There are good parts of the Bill, as was pointed out by the previous speakers, but for the reasons above, and also what they have mentioned, the IFP will oppose this Bill. [Applause.]